PRAIRIE DU CHIEN, Wis. — A day after Vice President Kamala Harris discussed immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border, former President Donald Trump is expected to respond by again linking her to illegal border crossings at an event in a western Wisconsin river town.
Trump heads Saturday to Prairie du Chien, a town of about 5,000 people just across the Mississippi River from Iowa, for a campaign event focused on immigration. He is expected to highlight the local case of a Venezuelan national accused of sexually assaulting a woman and attacking her daughter in an alleged domestic dispute.
Trump is hoping frustration over illegal immigration will translate to votes in Wisconsin and other crucial swing states. The Republican nominee has denounced people who cross the U.S.-Mexico border as “poisoning the blood of the country” and vowed to stage the largest deportation operation in American history if elected.
Hours before the rally, scores of supporters were lined up waiting as vendors sold Trump signs and T-shirts around the auditorium. The halls were lined with placards on immigration, and the stage had photos of people in the U.S. illegally who have been accused of crime. One sign read: “Kamala Harris wants to make every state a ‘sanctuary state.’”
Wisconsin Republicans in recent days have held up the story of Alejandro Jose Coronel Zarate’s arrest in Prairie du Chien as more evidence that people in the country illegally are committing crimes across the United States, not just in southern border states. Prosecutors charged Coronel Zarate on Sept. 18 with sexual assault, child abuse, strangulation and domestic abuse.
Police Chief Kyle Teynor posted statements on Facebook saying that Coronel Zarate is not a U.S. citizen and that he had two fake immigration documents, including a fake Social Security card. The chief added that Coronel Zarate’s tattoos indicate he’s affiliated with the Tren de Aragua gang, which started in Venezuelan prisons and is posing a growing threat in the U.S.
Court records show Coronel Zarate was previously charged in Madison, the state capital, in December with strangulation, false imprisonment, battery and disorderly conduct. According to a criminal complaint in that case, Coronel Zarate was driving with a female friend in November and attacked her when she tried to get out of the car. The complaint does not say why. The woman told investigators that they were just acquaintances and Coronel Zarate was homeless.
Police in Madison said that Coronel Zarate allegedly stole a car and fled before he could be questioned. He was arrested in Minneapolis a day after the alleged attack but was released from jail there. Asked why, Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Megan Larson told a reporter to file a request for Coronel Zarate’s jail records. The Associated Press filed such a request but government agencies typically take months to fulfill them.
Republicans including U.S. Sen. Derrick Van Orden, who is from Prairie du Chien, have criticized authorities in both Minneapolis and Madison for letting Coronel Zarate go, saying they essentially allowed him to attack the woman in Prairie du Chien. They have accused both jurisdictions of being sanctuaries for people in the country illegally.
Michelle Marie Dietrich, a public defender representing Coronel Zarate in the Prairie du Chien case, declined to comment. Charlotte Wynes, another public defender representing him in Prairie du Chien along with Dietrich, didn’t respond to a voicemail seeking comment. Michelle Brandemuehl, a public defender representing him in Madison, also didn’t respond to a voicemail message seeking comment.
Trump has repeatedly portrayed migrants as criminals and blamed Harris for failing to stem an unprecedented surge in illegal immigration, though border crossings have fallen since President Joe Biden instituted an executive order limiting asylum claims. Democrats, in turn, have blamed Trump for persuading allies in Congress to kill bipartisan legislation that would have funded more border agents and given the Homeland Security secretary authority to prohibit entry for most people over a daily limit.